UEFA in copyright battle

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The European governing body is set to sue Football Gifts UK, operated by Paul Gordon over copyrights of Champions League trophies. Gordon, which went into business minting silver-plated replica of the trophy, said his solicitor examined copyright issues and gave him the go-ahead before he began production. "My legal adviser tells me that UEFA doesn't own the design of the Champions League trophy. Apparently no-one does. "In any case, our version is slightly different from the original. It is the same height, but just to be safe it's slightly narrower. "I am confident we cannot be sued by UEFA. It is just annoyed that it didn't think of selling replicas first," he told media.

But UEFA is insisting it owns sole rights to the trophy and it is threatening to sue the entrepreneur if he continues to sell his replica cups. UEFA's merchandising operation Team Marketing insists that no one has permission to replicate the famous trophy. Its spokeswoman Jazmin Hegglin-Garcia said: "The rights to the trophy are held by UEFA alone and no other party has been granted the right for any use or reproduction of it. Our legal department will be taking the necessary action."